Late in the evening of July 17, I landed in Nairobi after a 14-hour journey (I started in Gothenburg) and was welcomed by Bonface with a cute sign that the children had painted for me. We drove to his apartment where a hot meal was waiting for me. This was already the moment I fell in love with Kenyan food. I can’t name a favorite – just everything I ate during my time there was very tasty and easy to eat with my hands, which I like a lot. The same house that Bonface lives in also houses the volunteer rooms and the ULT office. I shared a room with a French woman and a German woman and in the “boys’ room” another volunteer from Israel lived. Together, under the coordination of Bonface, we mastered the daily tasks, which was a lot of fun. The furnishing of the rooms is simple, but absolutely sufficient. Toilet and shower room were shared with everyone on the floor and the kitchenette was in Bonface’s apartment, to which we always had access. There was always drinking water there as well. There was no running water, but that was absolutely no problem. Everything was taken care of and Bonface was always available. We volunteers never felt unsafe or left alone.

The day after my arrival, after breakfast, I went directly to the organization in the slum for a “situation briefing” and then to the school to help the teacher who takes care of about 120 children – what a task! The children speak Swahili, but are learning English at a very early age. This means that for the most part they understood me when I spoke English to them. Everything else was explained with hands, feet and facial expressions. This never led to problems, but to a lot of fun on both sides! In the afternoon we were responsible to play with the children, so we made up games during lunch. How much fun that was! I have no idea the last time I played sack races, chair dances, or blind cow. Since we were always busy and on the go, it didn’t take me that long to adjust to life there. I was really looking forward to the trip and had set off with the attitude of just getting involved with everything and doing something completely different for a change (I’m usually a PhD student at a university in Sweden, so this was a really big contrast). Working directly with the children was a lot of fun and really good for me. You rarely get so many hugs and declarations of love!

Besides playing with the children and helping out at school, home visits and school visits were also on the agenda. This means visiting the children who are part of the organization at home or at school. In doing so, we received updates on how the children are doing, what the situation is like at home, how they like school, what their favorite subjects are, which teachers they like the most, and so on. These are the updates that are sent to the sponsors along with pictures. We also visited children who cannot go to school and are looking for a sponsor. We wrote down their stories and took a picture of them so they could find a sponsor as soon as possible. It is unbelievable the work ULT is doing there. A very special moment for me was during the school visits. At Githurai Secondary School, Peter and Rebecca, my sponsored children, were suddenly standing in front of me. Bonface set this up specially and surprised me. We sat together during their big break and talked a bit. So I was able to catch up with my update myself, which was incredibly touching. They were both pretty shy at first, but Peter really thawed out after a while. On the weekend I met both of them again in the organization, where the atmosphere was much more relaxed than in the school from the beginning. However, whether Rebecca really wanted direct contact with me, I’m not sure. That’s perfectly okay and I respect that. I was even allowed to visit Peter at home and meet his mother and two brothers. That was really an indescribably special moment.

However, the home visits were not always easy. After all, we visited people there who live in inconceivable poverty. Everyone always welcomed us and told us their stories honestly. There were moments when I would have liked to leave the room to emotionally process what I had heard. But I never wanted to cut short my stay because the people were so incredibly kind and strong. It’s a very special experience that leaves you with a feeling you won’t soon get rid of. I also started to see my life with different eyes. I was especially impressed by the visit to the children’s home. The work that is done there to give life to children who are really not given anything in life is indescribable.
The happiest moments were definitely when we could take children to school for the first time. How proudly they trudged to school in their new uniforms with backpacks on their backs, sometimes excitedly cautious, sometimes jumping overjoyed into their classrooms! It reminded me of my first day at school and I was moved every time.
Besides “work”, we volunteers also had free time. One weekend I went on safari, which Bonface organized. Three days of live Lion King was simply incomprehensibly beautiful! We also went out in the evenings after work was done. Sometimes just for dinner or a stroll, but also sometimes to a concert in Nairobi. On my last Sunday, we went to the city forest and then had a look around the city. As a volunteer on site, you are not only on behalf of the organization. You are close to the people, live with them, make friends and see the surroundings with completely different eyes than normal tourists. I will definitely go to Kenya again.